Narrative of the Operation:  Weather Interferes

D plus 2 to D plus 3.--Poor weather of 19 September cut down the airborne effort an postponed H-hour until 1500. The aircraft which took off had great difficulty in reaching their objectives and many turned back.  The meteorologists recommended the northern route, but it was not used because it was feared that a third mission in succession on this course would run into disastrous flak. Supplies for the British 1st Airborne Division were dispatched in British aircraft and troops of the Polish Brigade in British gliders towed by British planes.  Of 60 aircraft taking off to resupply the 82d Division, only 36 reached their destinations. Reinforcements were sent to the 101st Division in 385 aircraft and 385 gliders. Only 213 of each arrived. Twenty-five planes and 97 gliders were listed as lost or missing, with the remainder abortive.

Escort consisted of 127 Spitfires of ADGB and 182 Mustangs of the Eighth Air Force. Severe flak was encountered between the IP and the drop and landing zones. The enemy also put up strong fighter formations. Eighth Air Force fighters met more than 125 Me 109's and FW 190's. Their claims were 23 destroyed, 1 probable destroyed, and 4 damaged. Nine P-51's were lost.

The late afternoon of 19 September and all day 20 September saw severe fighting for the town of Nijmegen and the crucial bridge over the Waal. The plan of attack was for the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment to make an assault crossing of the river and attack the north end of the bridge while the Guards Armoured Division attacked it frontally. Other units of the 82d Division were to aid in the drive through Nijmegen to the bridge. This plans was carried out with great skill and courage in the face of murderous German fire from an old fort on the north bank of the river. By nightfall the bridge had been taken. Why the enemy did not destroy it when his position became hopeless is not known.

Farther south, the enemy infiltrated across the narrow corridor from the west and was with difficulty pressed back to Schijndel. Fighting was very stiff at Best, which the airborne troops had not succeeded in capturing. The British 43d Infantry Division was moving up behind the Guards Armoured Division.

By morning of 20 September the situation of the British 1st Airborne Division was serious. Most of the supplies in the D plus 2 lift had fallen into enemy hands. The men of the 1st Parachute Brigade, who had stubbornly dominated the north end of the bridge for 3 days finally lost control of it at noon of 20 September. The main body west of the city was also under extreme enemy pressure from both east and west. About 25 Luftwaffe planes strafed the British troops during the day. The divisional commander reported that he was forming a close perimeter defense around the village of Hartestein. After bitter fighting the 1st Air Landing Brigade carved its way back to this defensive zone. The ferry at Heveadorp was still under the division's control, and the main road bridge was reported intact. The commander requested that the troops of the Polish Parachute Brigade to be dropped on 20 September just to the south of the river near terminus of Heveadorp ferry.

D plus 3 to D plus 4.--Weather made impossible the transport of Polish parachutists to a drop zone on 20 September as planned, and only resupply missions were flown. There was low stratus cloud over England in the morning; in the Channel there was morning haze becoming 7/10 to 10/10 cloud  in the afternoon, with bases 2,000 to 3,000 feet, visibility 1 to 2 miles. On the afternoon over the target areas there was 6/10 to 8/10 cloud with visibilities 1 to 2 miles in haze. The southern route was used. In all, 163 British and 350 American aircraft took off, and 162 and 338 respectively reached their objectives with losses of 14 and 0 respectively. Flak in the Arnhem region, where the British were resupplying, was very intense and accurate. Most of the supplies dropped to the 1st Airborne Division reached the enemy. Escort was by 248 fighters of ADGB, of which 3 were lost, and 679 of Eighth Air Force, 5 of which failed to return. No enemy aircraft were encountered. The Ninth Air Force had 43 P-47's on uneventful patrol over the battle area in the late afternoon.

On the morning of 21 September the Guards Armoured Division and elements of the British 43d Infantry Division were making a determined effort against stern resistance and under the handicap of heavy rains to reach the beleaguered 1st Airborne Division. By evening the forward units had pressed several miles toward the Neder Rijn from the Waal and had brought the enemy forces in Arnhem under artillery fire. The Germans were continuing stiff counterattacks on the Nijmegen area from Reichswald.